The United States Traffic Net (USTNET) is a directed net, having a Net Control Station (NCS) and NCS appointed relay stations. We are a semi-formal group of amateur radio operator members but any operator can participate in the net as long as they hold a general or higher amateur radio license. We operate our net 7 days a week with Wednesday and Saturday nights being a LATE NET.
We combine a purpose of Working All States (WAS and awards) with a social atmosphere and we encourage all newcomers to our net. The net is frequency agile, meaning that we don’t have a set frequency that we operate on so the use of the Netlogger application will enhance your net participation as it displays the frequency of operation, NCS, a list of all available stations on the net (with Names, Callsigns, locations) and an Almost Instant Messenger (AIM) window where a lot of additional social conversations are taking place.
For our members only, we allow the use of FT-8 to count towards the WAS award. FT-8 logging only counts towards WAS awards during the hours of an existing voice net for 90 minutes from start time. Check the schedule or the banner below for details of our voice net hours of operation.
OUR NETS
Join us Sunday thru Friday on 40m 7.XXX MHz in the “General Class License” portion of the band. Check-ins start @ 2230z. The nets starts @ 2300z. If the net is active, you can find our frequency of operation on the Netlogger app or below this section on our home page.
Join us each Wednesday and Saturday night on 40m SSB 7.XXX MHz in the “General Class License” portion of the band. Check-ins start @ 11:00 pm Eastern Time. The net starts @ 11:30 pm Eastern time.
If there is an active net, it will be displayed below this section on the home page of our website as well as on Netlogger with the active frequency, NCS and other net information.
160m net on Friday and Saturday nights only during Standard Time at 11:30pm Eastern Standard Time on a frequency of 1.865 MHz +/-30 kHz. Checkins start at 11:00 pm Eastern. No nets during Daylight Savings Time due to band conditions (noisy and poor propagation). Active USTNET Nets will be displayed in the Netlogger app or below this section on our home page.
USTNET members can use FT8 on any band from the start time of any USTNET net for 90 minutes in order to supplement their Worked All States award. There will not be a netlogger net presence to check in to.
The main objective of this FT8 mode option is to achieve Worked All States by reaching stations in Hawaii (HI) and Alaska (AK) because the current band conditions during our regular time slot on 40m and 80m don’t allow these stations to reach us.
Net Rules:
Start your FT8 operations.
Make contacts with stations located in the United States on any band to progress towards your USTNET WAS Award.
Members are required to log their FT8 contacts on the honor system to prove their contacts. You must have the Callsign , time , date and frequency of the FT8 contact you made. Their are PDF or spreadsheet(.xls) logging forms available for download at the bottom of the Awards page on this website. Contacts can then be submitted via the “Awards Application Form” at the bottom of the Awards page on this website.
Our 20m USTNET is on hold for now. It may resume at a later time. This net is experimental, so the times and frequency may vary. Check Netlogger or below this section on our home page to see if the net is active. If you would like to be a Network Control Station(NCS) for this net send an email to support@usawards.us .
Our 80m USTNET is on hold for now. It may resume at a later time. This net is experimental, so the times and frequency may vary. Check Netlogger or in the section below on our home page to see if the net is active. If you would like to be a Network Control Station(NCS) for this net send an email to support@usawards.us.
OUR CURRENT AND UPCOMING NETS
There are currently no active USTNETs. If there were active USTNETs, the information about them would appear here.
FREQUENCY NOTE: *
The USTNET 40m Net takes place at a frequency of 7.XXX MHz (meaning some frequency within the General Class License allocation of the band). Please check netlogger or the front page of this website for the current frequency being used. If you don’t have the netlogger application click the Netlogger Download button on our menu for more information.
For Today’s Net
The Net Control Station (NCS) scheduled is John, KC5THR in TX @ 6pm Eastern for the USTNET 40M Net, 7.XXX MHz SSB, See the FREQUENCY NOTE * above.
Wednesday Night’s Net Control Station (NCS) is Scott, W7SCD in WA(or alt. NCS), @ 11 pm Eastern time for the USTNET 40M Late Net SSB 7.XXX, See the FREQUENCY NOTE * above.
For Tomorrow’s Net
The Net Control Station (NCS) scheduled is Dana, N1USH in NH @ 6pm Eastern for the USTNET 40M Net SSB, 7.XXX MHz, See the FREQUENCY NOTE * above.
